Special thanks this month to Dr. Alissa Albers for coming out to speak with is about Atlas Orthogonal care and her practice; Well Balanced Chiropractic. We had a great turn out! Thank you all for showing up, for those of you who couldn't make it today I will do a recap on what Dr. Albers Shared with us.
What is Atlas Orthogonal and how it helps:
Atlas is your very first cervical bone. Orthogonal means 90 degrees. The technique is to create 90 degree angles with our spine parallel to the ground to help distribute the weight of your head evenly. This helps open up the spaces in your spinal column to allow alignment and freedom for your spinal cord, nerves and vessels. When your upper cervical bone is out of alignment it puts tension on your nerve roots and vessels causing swelling in that joint. It is difficult for the proper blood supply to reach your brain essentially starving it of its necessary nutrition and this causes your nervous system to become less efficient at neuron trafficking, meaning all your sensations can become confused or sluggish.
Current studies into Fibromyalgia have confirmed that Fibromyalgia is a central processing issue and not a muscle disorder, and that means that it is our brain's miscommunication with our systems that cause the symptoms of Fibromyalgia. We don't know yet what the cause of this miscommunication is but knowing this helps change the way doctors are treating the symptoms of Fibromyalgia.
Dr. Albers relates the actual process of Atlas adjustments to a Kinetic Ball toy, you know those desktop toys were you drop one ball against a row of hanging balls and the last one moves. It's similar in method; a small stylus rod is place near your atlas bone and a weight force is dropped to affect that rod and the final "ball" would be your atlas essentially kinetically moving into a 90 degree angle. The simplified version is this: you lay on a table, she positions a stylus over your neck, there is a small clanking sound and you sit up, done. You feel nothing during the process and it is completely non-invasive there is no cracking, popping or twisting with this method, but it effectively realigns your atlas bone. Amazing.
When the atlas is adjusted it allows your over-compensating muscles to relax; neck, shoulders, hips ect. Veins and arteries lose their tension, it allows your brain to receive the proper communication. I know from experience that this can provide and immediate release of tension and/or reduction of pressure and pain. This will vary from person to person but spine alignment is important for many reasons. You feel more pain when your body is self-correcting and it is easier to build muscle and maintain muscle when you have proper posture and blood flow. The reduction of tension can help with headaches, tension pain, muscle aches and spasms, brain fog and so much more.
The idea here is to stop applying band-aides to our pain and start to correct the systems that cause these dysfunctions. Like most doctors truly treating fibromyalgia she also believes in a multi-faceted treatment approach that addresses alignment, nutrition, supplementation, exercise and stress reduction, all of which she is willing to counsel and collaborate on.
Treatment Costs:
Dr. Albers does not take insurance because she wants to be able to develop a relationship with her patients. Her standard protocol for intake is to examine you to determine if atlas is appropriate for you. She typically takes x-rays and does a thorough exam first. The initial visit will cost you 100 for X-rays and 50 for the exam. The rest of your adjustments will cost you 45. Like any new treatment it takes an initial commitment, but after you are able to keep the alignment you can see her only for the occasional check-up. On average it's a 6 week period of two visits a week for 2 weeks and then down to one for 4. That might sound like a lot but I promise you won't regret it.
She is no stranger to pain:
One of the many beneficial aspects of her care is that she has a personal connection to chronic pain. Around age 13 she was suffering from chronic Migraines and was put on several very harmful medications and found little relief for more than a decade. After a subsequent injury she was introduced to chiropractic care that also helped with her migraines. This revelation led her into chiropractic studies where she learned more about chronic pain treatment and found significant relief herself with Atlas Orthogonal treatments. Happily she is now here with us making her one of only two Atlas Orthogonal specialists in New Mexico.
KT Tape (kinesiology tape)
Today I also had Alissa talk to us about KT tape which is an elastic sports tape that is applied to provide relief for injuries or help with stability. There are very specific methods behind the usage of this tape and it takes some therapeutic knowledge to correctly apply this tape. She offers it in her practice and you can also bring your own which she will apply free of charge. (You can buy it at any sports outlet) I use this tape a lot to provide that little bit of extra core support for my problem areas like my ribs, back and shoulders. I also use it for joint stability because I have hyper-mobile joints and it helps if I will be standing or walking for longer than normal periods. Just another tool in the tool-box to help me maintain a little longer. It's also super helpful for those of you just starting exercise routines where the muscles are not yet capable of supporting the motions and it can relieve inflammation as well.
Here are some links for more information about what KT does to the fascia and how it might help ease chronic pain and provide stability:
http://physical-therapy.advanceweb.com/Features/Articles/Kinesiology-Taping-for-Shoulders.aspx
shorter version:
If you have any questions she is more than happy to answer those for you either over the phone or in her office.
Alissa Albers- 505.554.2061
That's all for this month! Hope to see you all there again next month.
* special note - I would like to start researching or addressing some of the more uncomfortable or annoying symptoms people might have, so please if you have something you would specifically like to talk about email it to me so that I can do the research and provide the group with some potential relief, no symptom or topic is too small.